MOSCOW, JUL 13: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow would respond to Ukrainian attacks on its territory with retaliatory strikes that would be “several times more powerful,” adding that the scale of such responses would increase.

Three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters last week that Putin was rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, with Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries and ports strengthening his resolve to keep fighting for now.